Thanks to the two tech tips here by Jeff Loftis and Mark Tonazzi, I fixed the loose gear in my headlight assembly .

It took 3 1/2 hours, I wasted some time at the start trying to figure out what was what and I removed a circlip while the unit was still on the car which I didn't need to do and that took a while.

Inside the gear drive was full of dry crumbled stuff as predicted. The new $5 Delrin bearings have cured the problem and my Headlight pop's up and down again.

There were a few things I thought should go on the tech tip to help others -

1. Re -'Marking the unit so that it will go back in the same place' - this is so the beam stays at the same adjustment but also because the headlight door needs to have an even space around it. I used thick cardboard wedged between door and hood, on all four sides. I think the door is a better fit now than before, the beam seems the same.

2. Don't remove any circlips but the rolled pin must be pushed out of the oblong metal fitting as it goes through a hole in the geardrive shaft. You can't remove the motor until this pin is out. (Like Elvis, my pin 'left the building' luckily I had a spare)

3. The gear is hard to remove but much harder to replace. The teeth don't go the full width and the bottom edge is solid. This stops it sliding down onto the worm drive plus the shaft wouldn't fit back into it's locating hole even though I had chamfered the bottom edge of the gearwheel.

I discovered that the gear could slide on the shaft so I moved the shaft up and located the gear wheel first (using some wood and a hammer - it needed a fair amount of force. Then I tapped the shaft gently down into it's locating hole. EDIT - I've realised that the shaft should not slide on the gear wheel, this is a NO NO - I'm sorry I did it because it could be the cause of future slipping...I'll keep my fingers crossed.

4. Torx bits are essential. I have a long thin extension which was very handy (again) Some jobs seem to be impossible without it.

Could/ should this info be added to the tech tip ? Could someone write it more clearly ?

S'nut


[Modified by Stingraynut, 4:14 PM 1/19/2004]

 

Too bad my 86 doesn't have Delrin bushings. I've got to replace both gears. Been putting it off for a while, but now my passenger side headlight won't go up at all. It closes okay, but won't open.

So last night I had to raise it manually, and turning that little **** to fully raise the headlight takes forever.

I'm going to check the relays first, just in case it's something that simple.
Jake


[Modified by JAKE, 11:43 PM 1/18/2004]

 

Hi Jake, I drove around all over Christmas with 'Popeye' and discovered that the motor is set to run for a certain number of seconds - if you hold the light open during this motor run, there may be enough grip for the machinery to lock in place - there was for mine although when i took it apart I can't see what was providing any friction.

Otherwise Popeye would not stay up, just hung down staring at the floor.

This may not be the same for yours, but worth a try - just reach in the window pull on the headlight switch and dash to the headlight

S'nut

 

No, not the same problem.

My driver's side headlight operates fine, but the passengers side won't open, but will close.

I use to be to get it to open by going up to it and tapping on the cover with the palm of my hand. After a few slaps, it would open in jerks (starts and stops) until it was finally fully open.

Now it won't even do that.

I don't believe the 86 has the little bushings that yours has. My problem is either the relay or the gears. I'm going to check the relay first; there are supposed to be three of them; one for each headlight and a third one they both use.

Jake